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CBCO: A Social Justice Approach to Revitalizing Congregational Life

The Unitarian Universalist (UU) community of the twenty-first century seeks both to revitalize congregational life and to fulfill its spiritual mandate to pursue social, economic, and racial justice and create a better world. Congregation-based Community Organizing (CBCO) is a model of social activism that promises significant success in the ways congregations meet these goals. Congregation-Based Community Organizing: A Social Justice Approach to Revitalizing Congregational Life explains the objectives, accomplishments, and process of CBCO and the benefits that congregations can potentially reap by becoming involved in it.

This guide begins with a theological grounding for CBCO in pursuit of social justice and analyzes what prevents many contemporary Unitarian Universalists from being more assertively engaged. The guide then describes how CBCO builds community, makes concrete changes to promote the public good, and develops community leaders. It describes the benefits reaped by participating congregations, including the building of interfaith, interclass, and interracial relationships; the addition of new congregational members; the development of leaders; and the new dynamism that transforms congregational life. The guide also analyzes the challenges to congregational participation in CBCO and the ways in which congregations can meet those challenges.